Elyxium Wealth LLC Boosts Stock Position in Verizon Communications Inc. $VZ

Elyxium Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 74.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 16,869 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,226 shares during the quarter. Elyxium Wealth LLC’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $730,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of VZ. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 43,986 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,759,000 after buying an additional 16,704 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 56.8% during the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 47,627 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $2,159,000 after purchasing an additional 17,250 shares in the last quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 2.7% during the first quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 392,960 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $17,825,000 after purchasing an additional 10,282 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.4% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,464,550 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $565,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in Verizon Communications by 9.5% during the first quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. now owns 23,307 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 2,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:VZ opened at $39.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $166.31 billion, a PE ratio of 8.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $42.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.79. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.19 by $0.02. Verizon Communications had a return on equity of 19.31% and a net margin of 14.43%.The firm had revenue of $33.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.19 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. Verizon Communications’s revenue was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Verizon Communications Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.0%. This is a boost from Verizon Communications’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.68. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Verizon Communications from $49.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Verizon Communications in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $49.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $50.50 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Verizon Communications from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating and thirteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Verizon Communications currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.41.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).